Securing auxiliary components, such as a rail, a snow guard, or a solar panel, to a roof often requires a roof clamp. Certain traditional roof clamps damage the roof by piercing a seam or other portion of the roof with the fastener used to connect the roof clamp and the seam. Piercing the seam alters the integrity of the roof and increases the risk of the roof leaking and damaging the building and contents sheltered by the roof. These problems are compounded when the auxiliary component is to be secured to a metal roof.
Other conventional roof clamps are cumbersome to use and require multiple attachment points to secure a single clamp to the roof or to secure an auxiliary component to the roof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,922 discloses a snow guard clamping unit that includes a retainer screw to secure a top piece and a shaped base via a first opening. The snow guard clamping unit also includes a second threaded opening formed in the top to attach the snow guard. During installation, the installer disadvantageously juggles multiple parts since multiple attachment points are used to secure the single clamp and a snow guard, for example, to the roof. This prolongs installation time and increases costs.
Further, the angle at which the roof clamp is installed is often awkward because only the small space where the roof clamp is designed to abut the roof or the small space along a side surface of the roof clamp is accessible. In certain installations, these small spaces provide a clearance of less than one inch in which to place tools or fasteners and to perform the installation. This limited clearance causes the installers to contort their hands and tools to access the limited space, causes inefficient work, and ultimately lengthens installation time and increases costs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,011 discloses an adjustable mounting assembly for standing seam panels and requires that one or more fasteners be used to secure the mounting assembly from a side surface of the assembly. These fasteners are placed in an area that has such limited clearance that the installation would be inefficient, cumbersome, and expensive.